Secrets and Lies
by Gette Shadow
Summary: Returning to the WWE six years after she walked away without an explanation, Amber must face the man she left behind. Six years is a long time, an incredibly long time when you've been keeping a secret from everyone you once knew.
1. Chapter 1

_Amber took a deep breath before knocking on the door of Vince McMahon's make shift office, RAW was going live in two hours and the arena was a hive of activity._

"_Ahh Amber! Your timing is impeccable I was just about to send for you." Vince clapped his hands together and gestured for Amber to sit down. "We've got a very exciting angle for you on the horizon."_

_Sitting down Amber looked over to Steph who had a smile on her face. Why did this have to be so hard._

"_Before you start I've got something to say." Vince motioned for her to continue, "due to personal circumstances, I'm requesting my release from the WWE."_

_Vince looked over at Steph, who seemed to have no idea what was going on, her worried eyes focused on her best friend._

"_Whatever it is Amber I'm sure we can work something out." Steph moved from her fathers side, and squeezed her blonde friends hand._

_Here goes, Amber thought, her stomach lurching with nervousness and more, "I'm pregnant."_

Amber could remember the conversation as if it had taken place yesterday, Vince hadn't been all that happy, but there wasn't much he could do.

She hated the fact that she was leaving her friends and a job she loved, but she had to go, for her unborn babies sake and for hers.

Leaving the company was bad enough, cutting all ties completely was absolute hell, but it had to be done. Well all ties except for Steph. Steph wouldn't have let her, and really Amber didn't think she'd have been able to cope without her.

Steph hadn't understood why she was doing it at the time, and even after six years, she still didn't think it had been the best thing to do, but she understood why she'd done it.

"You okay sis?"

Amber was pulled out of her thoughts by her younger sister, pulling her gaze away from the clouds outside the plane, she smile sombrely.

"I'm starting to think this wasn't the best idea ever."

Glancing down between her sister and herself, Amber watched her daughter sleeping peacefully, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind the sleeping youngsters ear.

"It's not going to be easy, that's for sure. But you're made of strong stuff, so's BB, and I'm here for you, so's Steph."

Amber looked at her sister, and smiled. "Thank you, for everything Cat. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"My pleasure, now where is that Stewardess, I want my last legal drink. Bloody America."

Steph and Paul were waiting for them in arrivals, and as soon as she saw them, BB wriggled out of her mothers grip and ran over to them.

"Uncle Paul! Uncle Paul!"

"Nice to see you too kiddo." Paul smiled broadly and swept the little girl into his arms. "Is it my imagination or are you getting bigger?"

Wrapping her small arms around Paul's neck Beatrix giggled, and settled herself in his arms. Amber and Caitlyn laughed, Paul wasn't going to get rid of BB any time soon.

"Hey Stranger"

"Steph you saw me three months ago, and we talk on the phone every week, I'm hardly a stranger."

The two women hugged each other tightly, breaking apart as Paul interrupted their reunion.

"Come on ladies, the car is waiting and I'm starving. Let's get you three booked into your hotel and find ourselves some grub."

BB giggled "grub!"

~/~

"where are we staying?" Amber asked nervously, as they settled into the waiting car.

"Don't worry, we're all booked into a separate hotel from the other wrestlers. Thought you'd prefer it that way."

"Thought we'd get more sleep that way." Paul added after Steph had finished speaking.

"Woah, fatherhood really has changed you Paul, you used to be the life of the party."

"It's not the same without my partner in crime." Paul smiled, "remember that time in Vegas, when me and you."

"Not in front of my little sister and my daughter, thank you very much."

Cat looked crestfallen.

"Don't worry Kitty Cat, there'll be plenty of time to fill you in on your sisters wild child days."

Amber groaned, making a mental note not to leave Cat and Paul alone together. In fact it would be best if she didn't leave Cat alone with any wrestler.

~/~

"_You're not going to tell him are you?"_

"_He doesn't need to know." Amber kept her back to Steph, she didn't want to have this conversation._

"_Your carrying his child Amber, I don't know what's gone on between you two, but doesn't he have a right to know?"_

"_Please Steph, I have my reasons. It's better for me and it's better for him if I just leave." Sitting down heavily on the bench next to her kit bag, Amber wiped away the tears that were starting to cascade down her face._

_Steph sat down next to her friend, pulling her into a hug._

"_What happened between you two?"_

"_Nothing's happened between us, we're good we really are."_

_Steph sighed, "I don't like this Amb, if everything is fine between you, why leave? Why keep your baby secret from him?"_

"_He's not ready to have children. Hell neither of us are." Amber pulled back from Steph, "trust me, Steph, please! I know what I'm doing is a horrible thing to do, but it's what's right. One day I'll explain it all. But I can't, not now."  
_

"Earth to Amber."

Amber's eyes snapped into focus, as Steph waved her hand in front of the blondes face. She hadn't even realised she'd zoned out.

"Sorry, got lost in my thoughts."

Caitlyn put an arm around her sisters shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze, "She's been doing that a lot lately."

"Six years is a long time sis, there's lots to think about." Amber squeezed her sister back, and then turned to Steph with a smile, not wanting to dwell on what was consuming her thoughts. "You sure Linda doesn't mind looking after BB?"

"She's more than happy to, besides it looks like the long flight has taken it's toll," Steph said motioning her head towards Paul, who held onto the sleeping form of Beatrix.

The restaurant Steph had chosen was nice, if a bit pricey. But it meant that they'd be unlikely to be interrupted by anyone, or noticed.

Cat was pouting at the fact she couldn't drink, but apart from that they were having a nice evening.

"You know Michelle has been hounding me about who her main opponent is during the Miss Wrestlemania match."

Paul laughed at his wife's comment, "Yeah she even got Mark to try and find out for her. It's really pissing her off that no-one is telling her who it is."

Amber raised an eyebrow, "you two really are having far too much fun with this."

"We're just enjoying the fact that apart from the two of us, my Mum and Dad, and a couple of extremely well trusted people in creative, no-one knows that you're returning."

"Everyone's going to be so disappointed when they find out it's not Trish." Cat stuck her tongue out at her sister before taking a sip of her coke.

Amber chose to ignore her sisters comment, "how's it going to happen then? My return that is."

"All the Diva's new and returning are going to come out during the last song of Kid Rocks set, no announcements, no separate entrances. Dad's leaving it up to JR and Jerry to comment on whoever catches their eye." Steph's eyes danced with amusement, "I really can't wait to hear their and the crowds reaction when they see you."

"I doubt anyone will remember me."

"You appeared on Raw women's champion during one of the biggest pushes of your career, and gave up your title. Everyone was talking about it. Not many people have forgotten about you. Especially as there were no injuries or wellness violations to explain it."

Amber looked at Steph dubiously, she really doubted that she'd get that much of a reaction.

"So Paul, what did happen in Vegas?"

Groaning Amber buried her head in her hands, this was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mummy, mummy, mummy, Aunty Cat want's to go shopping. Can we go shopping?"

Amber opened her eyes groggily, there were days when having an over excitable five year old was no fun at all. She had to smile though when she saw what her daughter had decided to wear for the day. Her darling little five year old had decided to wear cut off jeans; she had a feeling her dear sister had, had something to do with that. A skull and crossbones t-shirt, an eye patch and a bandanna.

"If I say no, will you make me walk the plank?"

Beatrix, knitted her eyebrows together, a look of absolute concentration on her young face before she grinned "Yarr!"

"Well we wouldn't want that happening would we?" Amber pulled herself out of bed, lifting her little pirate into her arms as she did.

"Ahh your up then." Her sister commented as Amber made her way into the lounge of their suite.

"Captain Beatrix here decided her mother had, had enough sleep. How long have you two been up?"

"A couple of hours. So can we go shopping?" Cat put on her best pleading face, which Beatrix copied. Her sister was rubbing off on her daughter a little too much.

"Don't worry, your Captain here threatened me with walking the plank if I didn't agree. I won't be coming with you though."

"Are you really going to stay holed up in the hotel until Wrestlemania? You're so paranoid."

"One Wrestlemania is tomorrow, and two I'm not paranoid. Steph has put a lot of work into keeping my return a secret, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Cat sighed, "There will be nowhere to hide tomorrow."

"Why are you hiding Mummy?"

"Mummy's not hiding baby, Aunty Cat is just being annoying." Amber lifted Beatrix to the floor, "go put your shoes on, and you and Cat can go shopping."

Beatrix grinned from ear to ear, and ran out of the room.

"Stop looking at me like that." Amber put her hands on her hips and faced her sister. "Yes I am aware that I'm going to have to face everyone tomorrow, I'm not going to hide, I'm going to go in there with my head held high and deal with it."

"Are you going to tell him about her?"

Amber sighed and ran a hand through her hair, she really didn't even want to think about that, "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Mummy I'm ready!" Beatrix called out as she ran back into the room, the laces to her converse high tops smacking against the ground as she went.

Bending down Amber did up Beatrix's laces, turning her attention back on her sister as she did so, "be careful, don't let her out of your sight, and..."

"Keep my mobile on, don't feed her too many sweets. I know Amb, don't worry. We'll be fine." Caitlyn grabbed her bag and made a show of putting her mobile in her pocket, before taking Beatrix's hand and leaving the hotel room.

~/~

Caitlyn and Beatrix hadn't been gone long when there was a knock at the hotel door. Dragging herself up off of the sofa Amber got up to see who it was.

"You, me, gym."

"Hello to you too Paul."

Paul grinned, "come on, I passed Kitty Cat and Captain Beatrix on the way here, so I know you're free."

Amber raised an eyebrow, "I'm sure you have better things to do."

"I need to go to the gym, you can't go two days without going to the gym, so let's both go to the gym."

"Alright, but only cos I don't have anything better to do."

"You really know how to make a guy feel loved." Paul laughed, and then realised what he'd said, "shit! sorry Amb I didn't mean.."

"Give me a minute to get dressed, and we'll head down." Amber waved Paul's comment off, and headed into the bedroom. Yeah she really knew how to make a guy feel loved. If practically dumping the love of your life on live TV was a way to show how much you cared for them.

She really didn't want to think about that night, and it wasn't as if she hadn't tried to talk to him before she went out into the ring, but he'd been off preparing for his match, and she'd spent quite a while throwing up.

_Her music hit and Amber made her way down to the ring to a loud pop. Her Women's championship secured tightly round her waist._

_Walking up the metal steps, she climbed into the ring, walking over to the other side, she grabbed the offered mic, and took a second to compose herself._

"_I know you were all expecting me to be in action tonight, and I was really looking forward to giving you guys a great match." The crowd had fallen relatively silent, waiting with baited breath to hear what she was going to say."But I won't be wrestling tonight." _

_The noise picked up again, the crowd confused._

"_In fact, my successful defending of the women's championship at the Royal Rumble, was my last match. I won't be wrestling again."_

_A chorus of 'What's' emanated from the crowd, but Amber continued._

"_I'm leaving the WWE."_

_The crowd went berserk, no one could quite fathom what they were hearing._

"_The last four years have been absolutely awesome. I've loved every minute of it. But for now I'm hanging up my boots, and," Amber paused and took off her championship belt, "as I'm leaving, I think it goes without saying that I'll be giving up my championship." _

_Walking over to one of the turnbuckles Amber rested her title on the top ropes, her fingers lingering on it for a second "so Trish, Lita, Torrie, Gail and Molly, and any of the diva's who've wanted to see me rid of this belt. It's no longer mine."_

_Amber took another pause, dipping her head and closing her eyes. _

"_I'll miss you all."_

_With that Amber placed the mic on the mat and made her way out of the ring, shaking a few fans hands as she made her way up the ramp._

_JR and Lawler, were going mad on the commentary, they had no idea what Amber had been out there to do. Apart from Vince and Steph no one had._

_Blinking back tears, Amber finally made it backstage, her heart pounding. _

_He was waiting for her, she knew he would be._

_~/~_

"Keep up old man" Amber grinned at Paul as she upped the speed on her treadmill.

They were nearing the end of their work out session, Amber always liked to power down with a run on the treadmill, Paul had always hated it, and that wasn't entirely due to his injuries.

Powering down his machine Paul stepped off, "Hey I'm not that old. You know this reminds me why I like training at the gym on my own. Specially without twenty somethings."

Amber followed suit and powered down her machine, stepping off she took a swig of her water and smiled. "How old are you now, 50? 60?"

"Very funny kiddo, very funny." Paul lightly bumped his fist against Amber's shoulder, before gathering his stuff together. "So what you got planned for the rest of the day?"

"Well no doubt I'll be alone for a while, Cat could win an Olympic medal in shopping, so I'll just be chilling in my room, making sure that my place is ready for us to move into, and then I suppose I'll be watching you lot swanning about in all your finery at the Hall Of Fame ceremony."

Paul put an arm around Amber's shoulders as they made their way out of the gym and into the main hotel, "Don't worry babe, after tomorrow you won't have to hide out and you can enjoy being back."

"Speaking of which." Amber pulled her hood up and moved away from Paul, "looks like we've got some fans checking in. Have fun tonight."

Making her way through the new arrivals, Amber managed to slip into an unoccupied lift unnoticed, she had to smile to herself once the doors had closed, no doubt the fans would have spotted the great Triple H as soon as he stepped foot into the lobby.

~/~

Caitlyn and Beatrix returned from their shopping trip five hours after they had set out. Caitlyn's hands were full of shopping bags. Amber rolled her eyes, no doubt her sister had maxed out her credit card.

"You girls have fun?"

"Aunty Cat made me a t-shirt" Beatrix grinned as she jumped onto the sofa and snuggled up against her mother.

"I thought she could wear it tomorrow." Cat smiled and dug through her bags, fishing out a baby pink t-shirt she held it up for her sister.

Amber had to smile as she read the wording on the t-shirt, "Future WWE Diva."

"You like it?"

"It's cute, I'm still not keen on you two coming though."

"Come on Sis, she'll be fine, it's not as if she hasn't seen wrestling before." Cat knew why her sister was worried, yes there was the violence, there was also the fact that Beatrix's daddy would be in action, not that she was going to bring that up. "Besides I wanna get some kick ass photographs of my big sis in action."

Amber looked down at her now sleeping daughter, the shopping trip had really tired her out, "God I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't let you go would I?"

"Absolutely not."

Amber shook her head, and gently lifted up Beatrix, the little one would no doubt be more comfortable in a actual bed.

~/~

The day of Wrestlemania 25 arrived, and Amber was so nervous, she thought she might throw up. This wasn't her first Wrestlemania, but it certainly was her biggest, despite the fact that she was one of twenty five divas.

Hiding out in Steph's office, was no fun. Every time there was a knock on the door, she jumped and high tailed it into the adjoining bathroom. It was getting a bit tedious, not to mention ridiculous. And Steph was having far too much fun watching her best friend diving for cover.

Lacing up her boots, Amber looked at herself in the mirror, suddenly feeling extremely self concious. Her ring attire certainly seemed a lot skimpier than she remembered it.

Her outfit consisted of black denim shorts that barely covered her arse, black wrestling boots with orange laces, and an orange top that criss crossed on her back and barely covered her boobs, she was thankful for the black bikini top underneath that let her retain a slice of decency.

At least she still had the body to carry it off, in fact she was in better form now than she had been. Her abs were taught, and her muscles well defined. She looked healthy.

"Amber, time to get going." Steph's voiced called out from the other side of the door.

Taking a deep breath, Amber took one last glance in the mirror before grabbing her hoodie and exciting the bathroom.

"Remember, you and Michelle are taking each other out of the match, work with the other girls, and don't do anything stupid."

"Steph I do this for a living remember."

"I know Amb, but you've never wrestled against most of these girls, and I'd like to have them all in one piece at the end of the match." Steph gave Amber a stern look, and the both of them burst out laughing.

The walk from Steph's office to the gorilla position wasn't a long one, and by some miracle they didn't bump into any wrestlers.

The other divas were already waiting, Nora and Gail were the first to spot her, the looks of surprise on their faces soon changing to joy as they hugged their old friend.

Their reunion was soon broken up though.

"So this is the big surprise."

Gail rolled her eyes, and Amber turned to face Michelle McCool.

"That would be me." Amber smiled and held out her hand to the other diva, "I'm Amber by the way."

Michelle sneered and walked away, leaving Amber to retract her hand like an idiot.

"Don't worry Amb, she's just jealous cos she knows she'll never be as good as you in the ring." Nora smiled and hugged her Amber, "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise."

The girls were given their cue, and started making their way out onto the stage. Disposing of her hoody, Amber grinned at Nora, "ready to do this again?"

"Oh yeah!" Nora grinned back and the two made their way out onto the stage.

~/~

"Woah would you look who it is?" Randy Orton exclaimed, as a bunch of the male wrestlers settled down to watch the diva match.

"Tony was swanning about here in that get up earlier, why are you so shocked." Adam asked with a laugh from the other side of the locker room.

"I'm not talking about Tony, I'm talking about Amber."

At mention of her name, a few heads shot up, and everyone's attention turned to one superstar in particular.

Jeff Hardy was now engrossed in what was happening on the television, his eyes glued to the girl he hadn't seen in six years. The girl who had left him without


End file.
